Review: Data Flow, Visualizing Information in Graphic Design

Data Flow: Visualizing Information in Graphic Design isn't an Edward Tufte book. It's not an instruction manual nor is it a guide to analytical and statistical graphics. Rather, Data Flow is a showcase of visualization and infographics with a hard focus on aesthetics and form.

First Impressions

I was naturally drawn to Data Flow, because well, this blog and the book practically share the same name. As I flipped through the pages, I realized that I've written about a lot of the pieces on FlowingData, and even one of the works that I collaborated on a while back is in the book. It was nice to see them in print though. A lot of visualizations are simply better on paper than they are on a monitor. I don't think I have to explain why.

Data Flow has a nice tactile feel with 250 thick-paper pages and high quality prints. The colors are bright, the graphics are big, and the text is limited - all the makings of an excellent coffee table book.

Content and Layout

The layout is like that of an art book. Data Flow is split into six sections based on form - datasphere, datanets, datascape, datalogy, datanoid, and datablocks or in other words, circles, networks, spatial, physical, and rectangles, respectively. I personally would have preferred a split by data type. I realize it's graphic design, but the layout is like a non-emphasis on the data, so some of the purpose is lost.

That said, Data Flow is chock full of beautiful data visualization examples. A lot of works from many well-known designers are included like Nicholas Felton's Feltron Report, Stamen Design's Cabspotting, and Chris Harrison's Biblical Social Network as well as plenty of the lesser known, but equally impressive pieces. I was a little surprised not to see anything from Jonathan Harris, Golan Levin, or Aaron Koblin, but maybe those are more interaction design than graphic design?

Speaking of layout, I agree with a lot of the Amazon reviews. Layout is inconsistent. It's like a mashup of images without any clear defined margins, which is not a huge deal but it does go against my personal preference. For example, there are lot of full-page pieces, but some only take up 2/3 of a page with a lot of white space around; or there are two equal-sized images with one centered on the page while the other is aligned right.

Overall

Data Flow isn't perfect; but I still like it, simply for the pretty pictures and as a source of inspiration. Don't buy this book if you're looking for a how-to in data visualization. Buy this book if you're interested in aesthetics and crave some infographic inspiration from time to time. It basically all comes down to this one question. Do you like information aesthetics? If yes, you'll like Data Flow.

Get a Free Copy of Data Flow

Ah, so you made it to the end of this review. You must be interested. Guess what. I have two copies of Data Flow to give away. Leave a comment below, and I'll pick two people at random tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8pm EST. This is restricted to those with a US mailing address.

UPDATE: This one's all done and over. The lucky two should have received a notification email now. Thanks to Gestalten for providing the giveaways.

Would be a great source of inspiration to me, as well as a great way to explain to people how design can benefit their work. The layout errors will also be useful in teaching would be designers, what not to allow in their own published works.

I totally agree Nathan. Actually I was a bit disappointed by the lack of complexity or interaction-models in the presented visualizations and the focus on informational graphic design (but this wasn’t a surprise knowing the “Die Gestalten Verlag” and their focus on aesthetics).

But just as you said, the book is great for nice pictures and some fresh inspiration.

In the often stodgy world of government statistics, there have been many times where a sexier display of information could have provided a visual wake-up call to our intended audience. We spend so much time in our Tufte world of minimizing the ink that we forget how to communicate a story, our audience gets bored and starts daydreaming.

Although the information rich displays in this book take don’t lend themselves to our typical PowerPoint world, they can be an effective method for communicating a complex issue. By sharing examples of how others have accomplished this difficult task (just as you do), I think this book can help show us how it’s done.

I work in an industry with an aging demographic of engineerâ€™s many of whom just donâ€™t get it. You would not believe the agonizing presentations I have sat through. So much of the conversation is what the heck you are trying to say that we are all are too exhausted and frustrated by the time it gets to meaning, analysis, and reflection.

I have handed my copies to E. Tufte to a few who show promise. But what I want is a bomb to leave in the break room.

This is at the center of my radar right now, as I have a DV project in the works. Would LOVE to have this reference book to give me tons of great ideas. Thanks for the offer! (Yes, I have a US mailing address.)

Approaching visualizations from a design standpoint sounds really interesting. I would love to see a book that takes several different, popular, data visualizations and presents them with an analysis from several different perspectives. Each one would have, as an example, a critique from a statistician, a graphic designer, an journalist, etc.

As a devoted follower of Edward Tufte, I would like to comment in order to qualify for the contest. Although I have only limited opportunities to utilize graphics, I am still impressed at the beauty and range of graphic displays.

That’s been on my list of books to check out for a while. Your review is further incentive for me to snag a copy (either by winning it here or doing some bookstore browsing). Thanks for the review and the book offer.

Ever since I discovered Tufte about 15 years ago i’ve been absolutely fascinated by ways to visually display information that has an impact on the reader
even if not selected I look forward to purchasing this book

infoporngraphics, I love it.
I can see where you’re coming from in your comment about how they sectioned the book, but based on everything else you said, it seems that they sectioned it in-line with what they were trying to showcase.
In other words, the book is more about the graphic design of information, and less about the types of information one can design for. With that in mind, it makes more sense to section the book according to basic graphic elements instead of by the information contained within.

Thanks for the review, Nathan. I’m always looking for good sourcebooks. Are there how-to books that are technology-agnostic? I.e., a book I can use to learn how to build viz regardless of the lang I’m using to build

I’m always looking for ways to present information, usually financial information, in a visual format. We accountants may love our tables of data, but our management and board needs something more quickly understandable….

I work in a small firm of well-meaning creative people (me among them) who are sometimes stifled when it comes to presenting potentially dry data in ways that are truly engaging. Looks like this book is full of them, and I appreciate the line you draw between this text and the work of Professor Tufte, which, will fascinating, is not always creatively liberating.

Love the blog and my day brightens when I see a new headline from your site in my Google Reader.

I love that you opened with the line that this “isn’t an Edward Tufte book.” Having been seduced into analysis of visual data analysis by such lovely books as the Tufte volumes, your review certainly caught my eye. I may have to see this _Data_Flow_ volume, if only to see that it is a “mashup of images without any clear defined margins, which … does go against my personal preference.” I’m likely to agree. [And here’s crossing my fingers to win your random drawing.]

I just recently found your site and itâ€™s wonderful. As a dyslexic I find reading through data takes longer than most, so data flow visualized charts saves me valuable time as I plow through wonky issues. The book would be great, but finding your site is already a gift.

Pick me! I like the virtual water graphic, but it bugs me that the items all have different weights. Comparing 1 apple to 1 coconut to 1 “slice” of cheese could be presented better by using 500g of each.

I have nothing clever to say aside from having to let you know that I want this so bad, I am willing to beg for it.

Please do not let this plea go unheard lest you alter the time-space continum we are in by not sending it and force me to go back in time only to come back in another life as a politician intent to destroy the art of data visualization.

I’m a fan of Tufte, and I tend to agree with him on most things although not all of them. I use graphs a lot for my own analyses, although what I find useful is not always comprehensible to others who may not be willing to put much into understanding. Messy presentation can convey a lot of information on the fine detail of variability. Central tendency values by themselves elide the richness of underlying data and can lead to silly recommendations. Then again, messiness alone is not a sign of content significance. I am constantly dismayed by bad maps, unlabelled axes, and pictures that do not come with the appropriate Rosetta Stone.

Thanks for the review and give-away. Data visualization has always been an interesting area to study into. The decision of obtaining the perfect balance between visually appealing and readability is an art. I would love, love to have a copy of this awesome book!

I love your site! I stumbled upon your recession/economic doom infographic summary. Absolutely brilliant compilation! I love the sources you pulled from and the attention to details. This is really what graphic design is all about…taking a big, complex issue filled with tons of data and boiling the issue down to an easy to understand and pleasing to look at summary. bravo!

nice review, and I do really think the focus on the more static/print visualizations is actually a good thing about the book, since this is sort of the first one of it’s kind (speaking of more recent infoviz, so exluding tufte)

I would LOVE to have this book! I went to school for industrial design but have found myself in the research/information design side of the product development business as I have gone on in my career. This website and resources like this book really are a life-saver for me in my DIY info-design department.

What does flowing data on comment / feedback tell us? 1) lets be blunt, PICK ME. 2) Books Make me look smart, pick me. 3) I’ll kiss up to you, pick me. 4) I support Amazon.com and will get a copy there, but I like free stuff too, so pick me! Best of luck to all.